Sorry

I guess I shouldn't have vented so in my last posts.  I am not sure this is the place for it; I just had to vent.  Going to the kids (who saw the entire thing) isn't the thing to do, so I could compose words here somewhat better.  I appreciate the kind words - and especially the prayers.  I need them.

My attitude is still poor.  I really want to tell him to go to the SSB while I stay here, but I know that won't fly.  I would like to just be alone for a while though.

It is happening a little bit.  Yesterday, he had his colonoscopy, so things were rather quiet yesterday.  Today he had jury duty and got chosen as an alternate.  That means I have time to myself.  This will be good.

I have been working on the alter linens for the last couple of days.  Our "assistant" pastor asked me about them on Sunday.  Don't know why - it's only been at least a month since I said I would do them.  I had cut some out, and then realized that I didn't take the hem into account - been sewing much Grandma?  Apparently not.  That was a really stupid mistake.

Sunday night Lady Bug told me she wouldn't be in "camp" next week - she was between the ones they are attending.  She would be available to help me.  I wish I could have her that week, but it is SSB week.  Monkey Boy wanted to spend Saturday with me again.  I told him it was fine - I hoped he would enjoy the day at Women's group!  He quickly withdrew that question.

I was going to buy some new shoes today with DIL.  But we are getting blessed rains.  Like everything - when it doesn't rain - it doesn't rain forever.  When it rains - it floods.  I will not complain.  I will just sit here in the house - and have my arthritis hurt big time.  But it is still glorious rain that has lowered our temps considerably.  That is so good.

The shoes are a big deal because my first class feet require expensive shoes.  Now  were I independently wealthy, it wouldn't be a big deal.  I would have been buying those designer shoes all along.  No - I just wear a cloddy looking Finn.  They are certainly not pretty, but they feel so good.  They also start at about $150.  I know that isn't much, but I was always the Pay-Less queen.  Perhaps that's why I need the Finns now!

Peace.

Bits of this and that

Our friend/neighbor/cousin that lives close to the SSB succumbed to his brain cancer yesterday morning.  I really had wanted to attend his funeral.  After all, we did have so many things in common - his wife had gotten sick at the same time I discovered my cancer, and he did have cancer.  His was different however.  It was fast growing, and killed him so quickly.  We had planned to see him the next time we were at the SSB, the last time he was getting treated by hospice and we were going to be leaving the next day.  Sad.

I had my follow-up with the nephrologist.  He said my potassium was high, so he gave me a diet that would limit my ingestion of potassium.  It is something that I simply cannot really adhere to because the very first part flies in the face of what I consider healthy.  With pre-diabetes, I try to avoid white foods.  This diet says to eat white bread and white rice as opposed to wheat bread and brown rice.  Guess I am going to have a problem there.

Today I went to the cardio doc.  I told him that I had quit Lipitor on my own because I couldn't stand the muscle cramps in my legs at night.  I thought he was going to tell me that was just tough and get back on it.  I figure I will be 67 (ouch!) in a few weeks.  My heart is in good condition.  What is going to get me first?  Cancer recurring or a massive stroke or heart attack.  Let's face it, there simply aren't too many more dances in my future!

Doodle Bug had to go back to the clinic yesterday.  It is still not clear if there is a fracture or not.  I found out this was in the elbow.  So she is in a splint for a few days then heading to a bone doc.  We will see what happens now.  She flipped out at first about the splint, but she is doing ok with it now.  It is pink.  It is ok.

Tomorrow I will try to post some pictures of the trip.  I especially want to post that first hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  It was horrid!  The pictures don't seem to do it the way it really was.  It was just so bad.  I still shudder when I think of it.  I hope I never have to stay in 100 year old hotels!

Peace.

More about R

I guess I am too quick to judge, but I really am seldom wrong about character.  My daughter will attest to that.  Several of her "friends" turned out to  be just what I thought they would be.  She has been wounded by these "friends" several times.  I just had bad feelings about them - and this goes to this day.

So, on to R.  Apart from simply not liking people like her, I really think there is something far more sinister about her, and being pushy goes along with the sinister feeling I get about her.

One Friday evening at Community Club, in walked this couple I had never set eyes on before.  Seems like they just breezed into town --- from the upper west coast.  Now folks - I really doubt that any of you would just breeze into the Hilda Community.  It is simply a wide spot in the road.  The closest towns are Mason, Art, Loyal Valley and Doss. Now you know exactly where it is - right?  NO ONE lands here by chance.  That's why I think there is something really wrong with this picture.  They neither one had jobs.  He landed some part time work with one of the contractors there, and she handed information.  In fact, I scanned it:

I believe you can click on it to make it bigger.  It may be blurry, or that's just my  eyes!  Obviously I left off the phone and email - although I really don't know why. I guess "out of courtesy."

Anyway, she has attached herself to my neighbor on the other hill.  She is out there at least once a week (for $110).  I think my neighbor is basically buying a friend and companion since there is not one available.  One is with her husband as he fights cancer with his treatments,  the other re-married and they are always gone, and my younger SIL is an absolute hermit.  Her family is here - five hours away.  I can imagine it gets lonely.  I am only there for a week and never have the chance.  There's always too much for me to do, and I become a hermit like SIL.

I don't know - they are doing these odd jobs all around.  Everyone seems to know them, but they just seem fishy.

Peace

What I did in Mason

Sounds like the beginning of elementary school assignment that kept us all busy, doesn't it??  Anyway - it was a busy time!

Of course on Thursday, we went to Fredericksburg for food.  We also took a chair I salvaged from the ravaged lake house before we got rid of the house to be redone.  We went to the hardware store for a socket, the grocery for the rations for the week, and then ate at a divine little Italian restaurant.  It was almost closing time for them, but they were so gracious.  The food and the prices were great, but since Fredericksburg is a tourist haven - we walked about two blocks - up hill to get there.  I thought going back would be better - hah!  Of course - I wore the wrong shoes.

On Saturday we had one of the many family reunions (and we don't make all of the different branches!).  It was nice to see folks we haven't seen for a while.  My SIL and I were going to meet a friend (and neighbor) for the Home Tour.  We set 1 pm because the reunion usually breaks up right after lunch.  Not this year!  So we were running late, which is nothing for SIL.  In fact - it's how she rolls.

Anyway we met up with J and she had R with  her.  Now R is a different bird. I don't know how to take her, but that's another story.  The homes were really something, and they ranged from those that were at least 150 years old to being completely off all utility grids. Quite a range.

My problem came with R.  And I will be honest - I don't really like her at all.  Again another story completely.  She began talking about our other friend, neighbor, and, not surprising in that country, relative.  He has been diagnosed with brain cancer - terminal but is adding some time by doing chemo and radiation.  Now in the meantime, he has suffered a ruptured colon.  What a wonderful life, right?

Anyway, R has pushed herself into knowing everything there is to know at the Methodist Church there.  She was telling us that he is so weak, he doesn't want any visitors, including his children.  She was talking about how everyone wants to help, but they don't want any.

I sat as long as I could, and finally couldn't keep my tongue  in my head.  I told her I can completely understand why some people withdraw.  To which she replied that she knew.  She did that to the detriment of her health and those around her.  She just withdrew deeper and deeper.  That was it!  I told her I completely understand this person because I TOO HAD CANCER!  She shut up - a  little.

Anyway, last night we went to the "social event."  Our community is named Hilda - otherwise known here as the Wide Spot in The Road.  We go to community club there once a month, but don't go to the church - Methodist.  We are Lutheran, so we go down the road a piece.  Anyway the social event was Hilda Happy Hour.  We have been before, but it is the last Wednesday of the month, and if we go for Community Club, that is the third Friday.

Guess who was co-host.  This man and his wife.  And you know what, although it did look like someone who has been terribly ill, which he certainly has, he was not weak.  He was outgoing.  His children have been around helping in the fields and with the cattle.  This weekend, they plan to have everyone there to celebrate birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  What a complete liar R is.  But then it goes along with what I fear of her.  I don't think down deep they are nice people - and again, I will touch on that later.

It made me feel so good to see H and his wife.  She and I went through bad times together, and she looks good too.  He certainly is not currently at death's door as R made it sound.  And she wants the four of us to get together again?  I don't think so.

Peace.

What a (wonderful) change from last year.

It's amazing what a year can do in Texas!  Last year, the land was so parched.  Our usual flamboyance of wild flowers was non-existent.  The season was really mean.  The heat was on, and the rain was off.


This year, while the temperatures have  been warmer than usual, we have been getting rain.  Often, quite a lot of rain.  It's rather strange because I don't hear anyone complaining.  Even around the SSB, no one is saying the roads are so muddy that they are difficult to maneuver, or that the fields are too wet to plant.  None of that this year.


On our trip last week, the wild flowers were magnificent.  In many places, the bluebonnets formed a rolling blanket covering the hill sides.  I was thinking they had reached their peak.  But that certainly wasn't the truth. 


When we went into Fredericksburg for groceries, there were even more flowers poking up.  When, at the end of the week's time, we headed back home, there were even more flowers than the week before.  It was really breathtaking.


I was more than amazed when I got out of the truck when we arrived at the SSB.  We actually have bluebonnets close to the house.  I really thought we would never get them.  We had several, and like the rest of the country-side, we had more when we left.  I was absolutely thrilled.


Now, there was a downside - especially for G.  Our place was so overgrown with weeds that the road virtually disappeared.  So that meant he had to get out the good old 22 inch lawn mower. If it's spring, it is snake season, and they are very hungry - and have powerful venom.  Walking the dog in that overgrowth is a scary proposition.  So he spent the first three and a half days trying to get rid of some of the vegetation.


I have pictures - in the camera.  And my time is running out for computer stuff today.  I will get them downloaded, and get them posted for tomorrow.


 But it is really amazing what a difference a little rain makes to our land around here. Last year, very few flowers - this year a bumper crop!


Peace.

More clarity I hope

I sincerely  hope this will make more sense today than yesterday.  I am some better than I was - the antihistamine is finally building up in my blood enough that I am beginning to feel human again.  I will swear to who or whatever that I will NEVER let my supply of antihistamines deplete again.  I will travel the 30+ miles to town to get more.  Kinda sounds like a druggie though, doesn't it.

In addition to the main problem, I went with Daughter to put her 15 year old dog down.  That was a hard thing to do.  I had hoped that I would not get emotional about it, but he was a real part of the family.  He was such a good dog.  So that added to my head problems.  Crying always does.

I did decide that the nasal spray that is so out of date (expired in 2007) wasn't such a great idea, so I bought some new.  I hope I don't need it again for another five years.

Step granddaughter is in town.  Several months ago, she decided that it would be cool to shop lift.  She was caught.  Her court date had been put off and put off.  It was finally set for yesterday, but she had to be in San Antonio.  So SIL used his frequent flyer miles to get her here, and he arranged his business meeting for yesterday so they could get that settled.  Of all places to shop-lift - Target!  Well now she can go back to  Alabama, where she and baby-daddy are living, with only fees to pay and reporting to be done.  I hope this will be taken off her record when the probation is done.  What a way to ruin your life at age 19.  Kids are so stupid.  I know mine were.

I have finally gotten caught up on all things computer related now - finally.  Managed to even leave some comments here and there.  I do have to get the other computer back in working order though.  I really need that router going again.  Of course, the lap top I use for upstairs embroidery designs has a rather small hard drive, and it is almost full!  I spent the entire time at the SSB deleting files that were on it twice (or more).  I have a little room left.  Ah - computers!

Peace.

I get pulled into things like this all the time.

First, I will say that I do like venison.  I don't hunt, but I do eat the stuff!  I like the meat.  But I have gotten what I guess some would consider lazy (G), and some would say smart.

When we first began going to the area of the SSB - family land remember - I would go out after G got a deer and help him dress it.  After all - biology major and all.  I knew the anatomy, and where to cut.  This is the gross part, so skip to the next paragraph if you want.  When I was three months pregnant with child #2 (Son), I saw a deer in the pasture outside the house.  Close shot, and easy meat.  G got up from breakfast and shot it.  Like a trooper, I went out with him to field dress it.  Won't go into anymore detail.  If you know what that means, enough said.

After a few years, I got really tired of having my feet freeze while out skinning and so on.  It seems his favorite time for shooting a deer is at sunset.  I also was tired of staying in MIL's house.  She had OCD about the house and cleaning.  I knew  I could never get it back to her standards, and as I have mentioned before, she hated me.  So I got really tired of the place.  Plus there was only one tv channel.  FIL installed this fancy tower antenna, but everyone was afraid to touch it.  It would rotate, and it would continually break if it were turned at a speed over .001 millimeter per hour! So I didn't go with him for a long time.  I was more than happy to stay at home, and enjoy the life here.  

Then we had our trailer put in.  I like to be fancy and say "manufactured home," but let's get real - it's a double wide.  We have put a lot into it, but that's what we could afford.  Anyway.  I now go with him once a month and we stay for a week.  That's when you don't hear from me.  I still do not do any of the butchering.  But until last year, I helped make venison/pork breakfast sausage.  

Last year G and our wonderful neighbor made the sausage.  Gene has a wonderful set up, and it doesn't take long to make that sausage.  I don't remember if I packaged it or not, but I am thinking I did.  This year I wasn't going to do any of it - except eat the sausage!

Now you know how that fared.  I managed to do almost nothing until it was all ground.  Then G came in to do the packing.  I showed him how to use the meal sealer.  But then he complained about having greasy hands to try to use the sealer.  I finally decided it was easier to just give in at that point, but I did so knowing that he was fully committed to staying right there to help.

We got it done.  Took about an hour.  But at least I wasn't doing it by myself.  Next year - who knows.  There's hope I won't have to do anything!

Peace

Pictures - yes finally!

This is the table my dad built.  Those are my new chairs.  They are WONDERFUL!!!

This is a little closer view of the table.  It could stand having the top refinished, but I will let my heirs do that.  I will just think of it as "character."

Difficult to see, but this is the burn that my brainy step-mother put  on the table.  Daddy tried to finish it out, but as you can see - it didn't work well.  Just adds to the marred finish.  Oh, well.

This is a picture of my favorite cow - destroying the little deer feeder.  If you look closely - there is NO grass.  I will post before pictures later

Again a view of NO grass.  That is purely red dirt.  Red dirt that is turning to dust that is invading like crazy.

This is one of our old chairs from the dining room.  Uncomfortable as can be, and will tip over  in a blink of the eye.

So there you have a thumb nail trip to the SSB.  We have had some rain - I hope yesterday and today.  I haven't heard from friends, neighbors, and relatives (pretty much the same thing out there) about if and how much yet.  Just hoping and praying.  We need some so desperately.  This drought is predicted to last maybe until 2020.  Egad.

Peace.

Checking in

Yipes, this appears to be my 1000th post!  I really had planned to do something a little more special like look back at where I have been.  But then, life has a way of getting in the way.

When I began this, cancer was looming really big.  I had a business selling candles that has morphed into other things - namely children's clothing.  I had one granddaughter, now I am expecting my sixth something...  probably a boy.  That would make us three and three (unless DIL decided to have another which will definitely be the end).

But since we got back from the SSB, I have been running.  It all began with the appointment with Dr Death (oncology) yesterday.  That went well.  My CA27.29 was up to 24.  The nurse said that was no worry.  The cut off is 38.  Well, ok - but right after the mastectomy and chemo it was something like 10.

I have pictures that are still in the camera with the exception of this one.  This is when we stopped to let Simone have a walk before we really hit the road home.  Her first potty break.  This is an example of our dirt roads.  If you look carefully, you can see the dead persimmons off to the right of the road, and there is absolutely no grass beside the road there in the fore ground.  Ranchers are selling their herds of cattle and even goats and sheep in record numbers.  There is no food for them except what can be bought, and that is so expensive.  Hay is something that cannot be found.

.  It is so very dry up there even the cedars (junipers in reality) are dying.  Live oaks and elms are also dying.  The whole area it basically a tinder-box waiting to explode in flames.

I will try to download more of the pictures tomorrow and bring some out of the folders already here to try to show the difference between good times and bad times up there.  

Be back tomorrow!

Peace.

Ch ch ch changes

We changed our minds about trekking off to the hinterlands this week.  There were several factors involved in this decision.  Not least among them was Simone and her "buddy."  I was having visions of her trying to get loaded into the truck, and then riding for five to six hours.  I had thought about leaving her part of the back seat up because G sometimes stops short and quickly, and she falls to the floor.  But then I thought of having the cat carrier on the other part of the seat, and the seat being up.  A vision of Simone trying to ride ON TOP of the cat carrier also came to mind.  Not a pretty sight!

We called the furniture store in Kerrville where we ordered new chairs for the dining table.  The ones we have I have always hated.  They are the most uncomfortable things ever manufactured on the face of the earth.  My dad made this table - using a sheet of plywood.  So it is 6x8.  He did a masterful job on it.  It was in the lake house, and while we just left a lot of the furniture there (a goodly portion had been destroyed either by the vandals directly, or by exposure to the elements with the windows that were broken out), I couldn't leave this table.

The chairs, however ...  My mother found them.  They are ladder back with rattan seats.  They are from Mexico, and were exactly what she wanted.  They have little knobs from the legs that are sticking up on the front of the seats that gouge into your thighs when you sit in them.  With our tile floor, G invariably will get up and push the chair back too quickly,  The back leg grabs in the grout line, and over the chair goes with a "whap."  So we went to buy new ones (I could have bought two tables to go with them for the same price.  (Shameful!)

We called yesterday.  The chairs are in, but cannot be delivered until the 22nd.  So putting all things together, we are staying here until next Tuesday.

Simone is still miserable.  I called the vet's office.  She has to wear this collar until the stitches come out.  Another reason to postpone the trip.  Those buggers can come out sooner.  So Monday is the target date.

She decided that 2:30 this morning was the time to get up.  I think her ear itched something fierce.  Of course between her bouncing off all the furniture like a pinball, and the thump, thump of her foot on the plastic collar, I was wide awake.  How many days again???

I am so lazy about downloading pictures from the camera.  I know it is easy, but it't not as easy as I want it.  I will do that later today.  I will have some pictures tomorrow - one of my poor baby, and some of the SSB in the more recent better times there.  When it was green instead of dirt red and burned vegetation yellow.

Peace.

Update

Simone is getting along fairly well.  She certainly is not used to the e collar.  She rams into objects (and us) on a regular basis.  I tried to give her a respite from it this morning, but she had to remain in my sight.  I know as soon as she would be out of my sight, she would begin the licking and gnawing on the stitches.

I took a picture before we removed the bandage.  I will upload it this week.

Even if I get it uploaded this week, I doubt that I will be able to post it until next week.  We are off, through the fires, to the SSB.  I say through the fires because unless we go WAY out of the way to drive through San Antonio, we have to go through the Bastrop area.  So - through the fires.  I think they are a little more contained than they were.  At least I hope.

The problem with being at the SSB (that stands for Sting, Sticks, or Bites - because that is what everything there does - it is rough land!), is that my dear phone - with its supposed internet capabilities - does not work well there.  AND I still have about a year on the contract.  Then I can go back to my old carrier.  You really do get what you pay for.  This was a tad cheaper, and the service is waaaaay worse.  Lesson learned.

If I cannot visit you all, have a safe and pleasant week.  We will be back here in Swampland (that is quickly becoming desert) next Tuesday.  I will visit you on Wednesday!

Peace

What I did on "summer vacation" part 2

I was asked if my long lost girl friend managed to make it to the old SSB. Yes she did. The planning of how to get there took several of our days prior to the visit day.

G and I checked out two plans. One was that they would go to the community club, and we would eat there, listen to a program, and they would follow us home. The second was that we would go to the Little, teeny-tensy, bitty town that they were familiar with. They go to the Labor Day Fish Fry there. We don't go near the place that day! Oh the crowds.

Anyway, back to the meat of the story. They were going to call when they got to Fredericksburg, and they did! Way earlier than I thought, but that was fine. We had just been waiting. I had the last minute idea of sending the to the club, but we went as planned.

When we got there ready to indulge in a grease soaked fast food meal (but it tastes sooooo gooooood!). We know the owners, and knew ahead that there was going to be someone else taking care of the store because they were going to be miles away in East Texas. The couple was one we met at the last meeting of the community club. The ones that G has a strange feeling about!

Anyway, D and I were still trying to catch up on what had happened in the last 40 years, and the woman kept yammering on and on. I wanted to tell her to go back and watch her husband cook! But we ate, and enjoyed the food and each other's company.

When we left to tackle the roads, G went with A. I took D in the truck. We were greatly worried about their car, but it made it without leaving the oil pan, muffler, and other little (?) parts of the car behind.

THEN the drama started. G had called once to check on his mother. She was about the same - perhaps breathing a little more labored. D called her sister to check on things there. Found out her mother was going to the hospital. Apparently someone somehow fell onto D's mother causing pain in her shoulder and her blood pressure spiked.

They were seriously thinking about leaving, and I was just sinking into the chair because I really wanted her to be able to stay. Then G's brother called with the news about their mom. The brother suggested G to go to their sister's house to tell her in person.

To get this portion of the evening to a good point: G's sister was fine with the news and D's mother was released to go home.

What was heartbreaking to me was D telling me about her family. She had the one son who married a witch (you change the letter at the beginning). She wanted nothing to do with D. If D came over or was around this DIL left. She avoided any contact with D.

Then they had twins - by IVF I think. The DIL lets D baby sit (on her terms) and things like that but persists in her campaign against D. Her actions are so unbelievable that I can't even list them all. They are so bad I erased them from my memory - the little things, but kept the whole image. She is just flat mean and nasty. It all started when she married D's son. She planned the wedding for D's birthday to take away from that celebration.

D is one of the sweetest persons that walks the face of the earth. She is kind hearted. She loves those babies ( well they are four). Even with the Wicked Witch of San Antonio, I never acted like that to her.

I hated to tell her how my family works. Even with our warts and so on, we are close. We try to have Sunday Dinner whenever possible. It gets loud and we love it. We pack 10 people into our houses. It is good. Sometimes there might be some tension - something was taken the wrong way or something else causes a little tension, but it heals. Like all families, we have great times along with some not so great, but we are there for one another.

So this part of the story comes to an end. There will be more!

Peace be with you.

Here I am

Oh, gotta get the spider webs out of the corners and dust these baseboards! What a mess after ten or eleven days. Gotta get things cleaned up.

I spend a bit of time rummaging about in my blog log. Lots of neat things there, but I am so far behind. I am going to have to take a systematic approach to catching up instead of the old tried and true shotgun method. I will get caught up with you all though!

My connection was iffy at best. I could read my in-box, but I could not answer or send any emails. I could read one or perhaps two blogs, but that was about it. That is more than I have been able to do before. I had one bar most days. That wasn't much strength. But it certainly could pick up the gmail accounts - that aren't anything personal, and forget coming here to blogger. No way.

It was mostly hot and dry. We had a couple of fronts that gave us one night that wasn't pleasant. We had thunder, lightning (hard to have thunder without it!), and quite a lot of hail. The winds blew almost constantly. I measured one gust at 25, but I really think they went higher.

We were lucky to have a little rain out of that system. The rest of west Texas is dry, dry, dry. Thousands of acres have burned. It is scary being away because there is nothing we can do to help stop the wildfires. We have done all we can. I told G I think this might be the year our place will burn. I know we couldn't help anything if we were there, but still..

I did get to meet up with my best friend in middle school. We had a great time, and it went too fast. I am going to try to get them up to the house. I have been thinking all the ways we could do this. I will get it done!

We had a pigeon appear. You could tell it belonged to someone. It was fairly tame and was tagged. I wish I could know whose bird it is. There was nothing we could do to help the bird. It was really happy eating our corn gluten we put down to try to stop the grass burrs from sprouting. Then it went to the bird seed we had out. There is no water. I am sure the poor thing will die there. I just hate this!

We put our hummngbird food out. Those little things consumed two cups a day! The usual suspects were out - in droves. The black throated ones were back. This year, for the first year that I could tell, we had a ruby throated bird. I was so thrilled!

The worst thing happened mid week. Shadow was intent on an area in the kitchen. G thought it was one of his little play mice, so he went to investigate. Nope - that sucker was real - and alive. We finally killed it, but I am so upset. I thought we had found all the holes they can get in. So when we went to the store, I bought more things to trap/kill them. I put fresh batteries in the one that electrocutes them since it has seemed to be the only one we have that works!

I have babbled enough. There are so many things yet to do, I really have to run. It was fun to be away. Did some neat things, but good to be home as well.

Peace be with you.

Yes, I am finally back!

I was all set to bring you up to date on my exciting week in Teensy Town in the Texas hill country, but just getting to this place took at least five minutes. I have had the problem of Blogger setting the other blog - the one I was going to use for business, and I have not been there in forever - in the place of this one. I was prepared for that, but Blogger didn't want to accept all the privacy codes for this blog. It just wouldn't let me in. Well, I am here now so there - Blogger you can't keep a dedicated blogger away from her blog.

The week we were away went very well. The second day we were there, we went to forage for supplies, and that took us to the fairly big city that is also a big tourist trap. That translates into higher prices on everything. We go there for groceries because unlike Teensy Town, the grocery store smells clean - no bad meat smell in the place! They also have a much wider selection since the store is twice the size.

Our first night, we went to the community club meeting. I think there was ten of us huddled about the fire to keep warm. This place is about 130 years old. It is in need of deep repair, but as you can tell by the attendance - it ain't gonna happen from just the dues. But we enjoyed visiting.

The remaining part of the week was uneventful. My biggest problem was having no internet at all. I really hate that phone. I should have kept my feelings about Sprint being the carrier that will cover the hill country. It really doesn't. It is a rare day when all the stars and planets align, and you hold your mouth just right that you get the required signal - and then you better get your business over quickly!

Coming back was jumping into the life here. G had an appointment with our eye doc, and I went for my mammogram. The appointments were in the same "medical center." They build the office buildings about 100 yards apart. To me, that might as well be a mile. So of course, my appointment was in the original building, and his was in the new building. The timing was tight - we were a couple of minutes late to the eye doc, but she never calls us in on time. I don't mind the wait because when she sees you, she talks a lot. She makes you really feel at home and comfortable.

And so now we really begin the reality of G being retired. I said that we needed some things at the grocery store. He made a comment about cutting the grocery bill. I am just waiting to see what he brings back. My list would only fill one of our bags - and five of their plastic ones.

I am glad to be back home, but in a way I really enjoyed being in the peaceful setting. I won't say that to G because this house would be for sale in a heart beat and we would be gone. I don't like it that much!!

Peace be with you.

Sewing, no sewing

In my quest to find a repair facility other than where I bought my machine, I found some really nice places - places I only wish I had known about before. The first has been in business forever! I found they have classes - lots of classes. They carry the sister to my machine - same thing but has another name on it. It sells for less too. Anyway, I will be checking in with them a lot more. Their repair guy was really great. When you don't use your brain ...

I ended up taking the machine to a sewing/quilting shop that sells the machines. They have a guy that does the repair, and they are going to order the part. I was explaining why I think there is a defect in the design, I proved myself right. The owner and I looked at one of the fancy Brother machines - one that would be equivalent to mine. Those little points have protection around them They aren't just jutting out into space like mine. I feel somewhat vindicated. I also don't have to have remarks made by the other place's repair guys.

The real downside it that I will be without the machine for at least two weeks. Our little hometown craft show is before I get it back. Well -that's the way it happens.

I emailed the company with my complaint about the port. I doubt anything will come of it. But I made my point. It is a design flaw. I really am thinking about changing machines soon anyway. I really like the Brothers. And the Brother club where I go for the Janome club is a lot more fun. Those gals are something.

So all that's left is for me to get things together for our trip to the SSB. I am anal about things. I want to be sure that we have enough of everything. If not it does mean a 45 minute trip - one way. No one wants to do that.

We will be putting the big tv there - if it makes it in one piece. We ended up getting a plasma. I didn't think there would be a big difference in performance. The difference is in the transport. This one has to be upright, otherwise the plasma gets too heavy and breaks the glass in the screen. I might have known this had I not been in cameras looking for that blasted ATA card!

Peace be with you.

Mixed bag

Today was another nice day. We did our part to help curb the financial standing of the community. We decided that we were getting too old to see the 26 inch regular tv at the SSB. It is really noticeable when we come home and enjoy our big digital one, so off we went to the "Big" Buy store - which in itself is comical. You see - G swore a long time ago when he had a problem with them that he would never set foot inside one again. Well - this is twice. This time we walked out with a 42" plasma. If I had known before about the real difference for us between Plasma and the other, I wouldn't have gotten the plasma. It has to ride upright, or the plasma will break the glass, and that isn't covered by any type of warranty. So Merry Christmas to us - - and the family who will be around to help break it is this weekend.

Speaking of warranties, I am going to have to take the sewing machine back to the dealer - again - for the broken USB fitting. This will be number three. I JUST got it back last Wednesday, and it has to go tomorrow. I hate, hate, hate to take it to this dealer. I know they are saying bad things about me behind my back. I know they think I don't know how to work the machine. But, unless I want to just use the built in stitches and the very few that I loaded on it, I am dead in the water. I cannot get anything to load on it.

I went to the local computer big store. I bought a little plug to change the USB ending into a different kind. The machine is supposed to be able to be loaded by a computer. Not using Win7 or even XP. The old laptop lives up there with the machines. It still works, although slow and limping along. I thought this new method I dreamed up would work to read from the CD reader. No. Such. Luck.

I have made a mission about finding an ADA card that is 2"x2". They don't exist. That would be another way to load designs. I am out of luck there too - so tomorrow I will have to face the music. I would rather take a beating. The only other dealer is about 20 miles past this one. It would be really foolish.

It was completely my fault the thing happened, but upon closer examination of the little adapter in the machine and other USB ports, there is a design flaw. Those little fragile connections are just sitting there - there is no protective plastic around them. Look at any of your USB things and you will see the points are protected. Not here.

Back to my responsibility. Every time I have a machine serviced - cleaned, etc - it comes back screwed up. It makes thread nests on the back of the fabric like no tomorrow. It was doing that. I spend three hours on one little project - that by the way turned out like sh*t - and I hit the machine about six times. It is on a cabinet that has the place for the machine that goes up and down. Well, one of those blows, well, you can guess the rest. Now I have to pay the piper, face the music, and all those other phrases. I really don't want to. Really, really. Anyway...

Today was a good day. We went to a local theater group for a play. It was really cute, and gave a good afternoon of entertainment.

Pray for me tomorrow. That is weighing so on my mind. I don't mean to be sacrilegious, but this is going to be really bad. Can't keep my mind on the good, happy things!

Peace be with you.

A breather from shopping - for a bit!

What a change from last year. I can shop! It doesn't completely do me in with part of one store. Yesterday I set out at 1 PM and I made three stores. I was through at 3PM and not because my knees were screaming. I ran out of space in the truck.

We have a four door F150 and there is a tool box on the back. That would have been some storage, but it opens on both sides. I would have spend a good deal of time running back and forth trying to keep one edge open while trying to get the other open. So I opted for the backseat floor. We still had the doggy blanket in there, so it did a good job of covering the packages I put there.

The only real concern was when I went to Big L**s. This one is not a nice store, as they can be. I bought some bulky things at Target, and then more here. The Big store is right next to Hobby Lobby where I really needed to go next. With the changing neighborhood I was in, I was really apprehensive about putting those packages in the back and walking off.

I considered driving about the parking lot and park again, but I thought that was just plain silly. I practically ran through Hobby Lobby!! I was quite relieved when I came out to find I was not a victim of a smash and grab. I really wasn't sure.

So, my credit card has gotten a workout yesterday. It is going to get another today as I venture out for the grocery shopping that will include Thanksgiving. Since we will be at the SSB, I have to be sure I have everything.

DIL and son were to be with us, but Daddy Warbucks (her dad) is winning for part of the time. They will leave here the afternoon of Wednesday. Having to stop in San Antonio, they will be in late on Wednesday. Then Friday afternoon they will be leaving for Daddy's ranch. I have to say I am really disappointed. I don't get to spend that much time with them as it is. Well - the old poem comes into play - a son is a son until he takes a wife.

Daughter and SIL will be with us until Saturday morning. His parents are so messed up, they aren't going to see them at either holiday. Every single one of them needs money, and that's all they want from the kids here. It is a sad situation. They really live from moment to moment, but partially because they don't look at income and compare it to outgo. I should talk right now. I haven't done that either. I will have to take money from another account (ouch) to cover this upcoming credit card!! But I don't do this as a natural fact. It is only on occasion - like Christmas.

Again sorry about putting the restrictions on the comments. I tried to be open, and I got spam there. So ...

Peace be with you

It's meeeeeeeeee

We are finally back from the testosterone laden SSB. SIL and Monkey Boy extended an overnight stay into the weekend stay. Really, it was fine, and it was a time that MB will remember for a long time. SIL loves to exaggerate thoughts and feelings, but means well. He says how excited MB was to spend the time with US, but I suspect it was as much as with his dad as anything.

SIL was coming up to set up his feeders. He is convinced that he would never see a deer without those feeders - that are within 10 feet of one another. He also wants them on a bald as prairie. Don't give any natural cover. I guess I will get off his case now. But he is so addicted to those outdoor magazines and tv shows that talk about hunting in the Rocky Mountains.

I know there are a large number of folks that do not like hunting. I recognize that. I am not a hunter. It isn't that I don't enjoy the meat. I certainly do. I have been eating it all my life - thanks early on to my uncle who loved to hunt, but had no freezer (!??!??!?). I just don't want to take the chance of wounding an animal. I just can't kill one. In our area, there are just flat too many deer. If hunting were outlawed, there really would be a lot of dead deer anyway. We are in a semi arid area where the oaks only put on acorns once a year, and the rest of the vegetation is scrub. The informed farmers and ranchers won't allow the natural predators to keep all the populations in check, so ... Listen to me go on here! Why, you would think I went to college and became one of those wild life folks who know what's going on with the ecosystem. Well, yes as a matter of fact, I did! But enough of this. The whole situation is something that I or no one else is changing in the near future.

We had a good weekend. I was a little worried when it was announced that we would have two additional mouths for Sunday dinner. One who won't eat anything but sandwiches and chicken nuggets - with catsup, and another who is rather like a Hoover vacuum. I knew we must have something because that's just the way I am. If push came to shove - it would have been the dried beef over something.

I went to the little cube freezer. I had been threatening to clean it for eons. So this was it. When you open that poor little thing, you have to pray the ice packs will fit. Well, I began pulling twenty pound bags of ice out, and guess what - the thing is only half full. Plus, there lurking in the very bottom was a bag of gumbo (actually two bags and a little container). We were saved. I got out the big soup pot and put that hunk of frozen gumbo in it. I let it go all day. I also found some yeast rolls to let rise and bake. MB had a sandwich.

Well - one of these days he may eat.

Peace be with you.

Getting ready for the SSB

I really ought to just let SIL and G go. The only reason not is that SIL won't be going until Saturday afternoon after Monkey Boy's T-ball game. He wanted to go two weeks ago, but Daughter insisted that it was MB's first game. I guess I just am not into the sports stuff. It was a long holiday, and the kids would have liked to go to the ranch. But ... What Momma says goes. After all, if Momma ain't happy, no one is happy!

I would like to stay here and work on Christmas items. The time is going quickly, and I have a lot to do! I found two sets, well actually there were more like six, of embroidery files. They were cats saying and dog sayings. The hitch was they were $15 a piece. After plunking down $2500 (yes you read correctly) for Shadow's surgery, I have to be quite judicious about what I am spending. Here it is Christmas, and I have to pinch those pennies. Would I do the heroic measure on a cat again - especially one that loves to gnaw on me, yes. He didn't ask to be here. He is my responsibility now. I really am going to try to get some pictures of him and his sexy hair cut this weekend. He looks like something the cat drug in. (Please don't throw bottles at me - I couldn't resist the pun)

Poor old Simone is not acting right. She has defecated and urinated twice in the entry hall this month. I don't know if she is getting senile or if G isn't paying close enough attention when they get up. I am the first to admit that I am not up at that ungodly time of day. Did that for 44 years. I am through. But she is just showing signs of things not being right. I don't know her age; I am guessing at 8 or 9. She is getting really old for a boxer. She is my silver boxer girl. So I will take her to the vet for another unknown amount of money. I can't stand to see her suffer if she is.

So I am off on my appointed rounds to prepare for the trek to the wilderness. There are a few things I need. Other places I have to stop - like my seemingly favorite stop - the vet. But Simone is almost out of her car-sick pills. We. Can't. Have. That. Makes for a miserable trip. See you Tuesday.

Wouldn't you know

Shadow has his staples removed. I didn't hear him scream nor the technicians! Poor little thing - he has his belly shaved, his neck shaved, and around one forearm. Quite moth eaten appearance. If he looked like this at the end of the month, he would be quite the Halloween cat!

So before I got him to the vet this morning (I was sleeping quite nicely) when G tells me that Simone lost her breakfast - right in the bedroom door. It has been quite a while since she was sick. I was hoping we had that problem a little under control. I guess we did because it has been so long. Boxers are subject to, among other things, gastrointestinal problems. Gee -- that sounds familiar - dog AND cat.

I cleaned that and headed for the vet, got that done, loaded up my sewing machine and headed for club meeting. I wasn't going to sew this time, but it is maintenance time on the machine. When I pulled up - there was no one available to bring my machine in. The thing weighs about 60 pounds. All the workers there were helping other customers, so I was at the very bottom of the list.

I went out and brought my machine to set down by where one of the guys was helping a little old woman (I better watch that - I am a big old woman!). I didn't want to just leave it at the door. Those machines run better than $5000. I turned and left.

I parked and came back in. I got my machine and moved to what could laughingly be called a line. One in line commented on the weight of the machine, the other said "he's helping me next!" Uh, yeah, ok. I wasn't attempting to break the line. I was going to be there for hours anyway since I was going to see what the club project was, and get my kit. I certainly didn't think I was giving that idea that I was breaking line!!

So, here I now sit. Dog is still sick. Cat is happy - probably will never let us know he was sick again. Upset a little old woman at the sewing machine store, and well stocked for an easy weekend at the SSB! Very little cooking for me. I have the early morning before I get up snacks for those who rise early. Who am I kidding - it's me and George. Each dinner is easy, easy, easy. So the main cooking I have to do is breakfast. OK. I like it that way.

I hope you have a glorious weekend with fantastic weather and fellowship.

Peace be with you.